Kaamil Ahmed
17 January 2016•Update: 17 January 2016
JERUSALEM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Sunday that Israel had played a key role in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons while insisting that Iran still posed a threat to the region.
On Saturday night, Netanyahu asserted that Iran still planned to acquire a nuclear arsenal, despite a landmark agreement signed with world powers last year which on Saturday led to the lifting of key economic sanctions on the Islamic republic.
"Were it not for our efforts to lead sanctions and thwart Iran's nuclear program, Iran would have had nuclear weapons some time ago," Netanyahu said at a Sunday cabinet meeting.
"Israel's policy is exactly as it has been: not to allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons... Israel will continue to monitor all of Iran's violations [of the agreement]," the premier asserted.
Netanyahu added that Iran should be punished for any violation of the nuclear deal, which it signed last year with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany and the EU.
Netanyahu made the assertions despite confirmation this week by both the UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran had fulfilled its obligations to restrict its nuclear activities in line with the agreement.
Several western powers -- including the U.S., Britain and France -- praised Iran on Saturday for implementing the terms of the nuclear deal.
Washington, for its part, believes the restrictions placed by the deal on Iran's nuclear program -- which Tehran says is for purely civilian use -- are sufficient to prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons.
Over the past decade, international opposition to Iran's nuclear program had led to economic sanctions that had severely hampered the country’s economy.
